Circles
by BridgitKiido
Summary: This story can be summed up with this quote: '“Did you try this before, Niisan?” Al asked, smiling as he placed his hands on the outer rim of the circle and concentrated.' Post movie, oneshot.


**Circles**

by BridgitKiido

Disclaimer: _Hagane no Renkinjutsushi_, known in America as _Fullmetal Alchemist_, is the creation of Japanese manga-ka Hiromu Arakawa. I am not her. Translation: I don't own _Fullmetal Alchemist_. I'd be creative about my disclaimer, but I don't feel like it right now.

A Note on Timelines: This particular one-shot is on the anime timeline (for once), post movie. Therefore, there will be spoilers for… pretty much the entire series and the movie. However, most spoilers will be kept to a minimum.

* * *

It had been two years since Edward and Alphonse Elric had been sent through the Gate from Amestris to pre-World War 2 Germany. And they were dealing with their new surroundings. Their friend Noa had moved to the country across the sea called America a few months before, and the brothers Elric had settled in a small town in the mountains of France. They had found and destroyed the uranium bomb that had been brought to this world, and thus with nothing else they felt they needed to do, the two of them became independent scientists under the French government. Neither of them expected that they would ever see Amestris and the people they cared about ever again, but somehow that was alright with them as long as they could make people happy here. 

And then, of course, the completely unexpected happened.

One day, as Edward was working on one of his experiments (he focused primarily in engineering and rocketry), Alphonse came running into the room, so excited that he nearly tripped on one of the lower cabinets of the laboratory. Ed turned to his younger brother and, smiling, stated, "You know, Al, you might want to be more careful in here."

"Nii-san," Alphonse said excitedly, "I've made an important discovery! Come see!"

Shrugging, Ed followed Al into the younger Elric's own lab (filled with plants because Alphonse had decided to specialize in biology and medicine). As soon as Ed had entered, Al hastily grabbed a sheet of paper and a piece of charcoal and placed it on the central counter, explaining, "You told me that alchemy can't be used in this world, right?"

"Right," Ed replied, "it can't be used on this side of the Gate, Al. You know that." He was beginning to wonder just what the younger alchemist was getting at. "And I've already tried several times; it doesn't work."

"Well," Alphonse continued excitedly, "I was reading a book earlier that explained that, centuries ago, alchemy _was_ possible on this side of the Gate. It just died out. And then it hit me. You've tried using alchemy on this side only to have it fail, but you've been using the kind where you clap your hands together."

"What are you getting at?" Edward asked.

Al finished what he had been drawing and, placing the charcoal carefully on the side of the table, he beckoned Ed over to the table as he placed a small pile of dead leaves in the central of the freshly drawn transmutation circle.

"Did you try this before, Nii-san?" Al asked, smiling as he placed his hands on the outer rim of the circle and concentrated. It took a moment, but the circle began to glow weakly, then stronger, until it shone with enough bright-blue light to light up the room. Ed had to cover his eyes, having not seen a transmutation in so long, but when the light died down, a flawless new piece of charcoal sat in the middle of the circle. A couple sparks leapt from the page.

Ed stood there speechless as Al explained sheepishly, "I had to change a few symbols around, but it works! Alchemy is still possible here. It just died out a long time ago, so I suppose the hand-clapping method just doesn't work here."

Ed stared for a moment, but then found his voice and replied, "Alphonse… you are a genius!" He leapt upon his younger brother (who was a couple centimeters taller than him, but who was counting?) and hugged him so tightly that the younger alchemist had to struggle to breathe.

After that day, the two of them worked together to devise a new circle to open the Gate one more time. And when the day came, they drew the circle on the ground of the laboratory. Kneeling on the ground just as they did the day they attempted to transmute their mother (that felt like an eternity ago now), Edward asked Alphonse, "Are you sure about this, Al? I don't want to do this if it isn't what you want to do. After all, who knows what the Gate might want for a passage fee this time."

"It's alright, Nii-san," Al replied, smiling. "No matter what happens, I won't regret it if we are able to make it back."

Edward nodded, and the two of them placed their hands on the circle. It glowed brightly, and the laboratory shook with the energy being released. Vials and other glass materials shattered, the metals that Edward had been working with broke as well, and when the light finally died down, the ground had cracked as well.

The French government investigated this incident the next day. No one could understand what had happened; there had been no indications of an earthquake anywhere in the area. The only thing that could have been taken as even the slightest of clues was a few now useless charcoal lines drawn on pieces of what had been the floor.

As for the scientists Edward and Alphonse Elric… well, the French government never saw the two of them again. Not that they were able to investigate hard; shortly after, the Nazi Party invaded and took over the country.

* * *

It had been a relatively eventful few years for Roy Mustang, now retired from the Amestrian military. He had never made it to the position of Fuhrer; the Parliament that had developed shortly after King Bradley was killed took care of that. However, he and Riza Hawkeye had eventually gotten married and were now living in the country. The latter was now pregnant with the pair's first child; if it was a boy, the two were going to call him Maes. 

It was your average day at the Mustang house; the main event of the day was Winry Rockbell, over for tea. Riza was just welcoming Winry into the house (even being five months pregnant) when the floors shook.

"Strange," Roy said worriedly as he grabbed a door frame to try to stabilize his position. The ladies did the same. "There were no indications of an earthquake happening today."

Suddenly, there came a flash of light from below the floor boards. All three people's eyes widened; after all, a flash of light could only mean one thing. As soon as the shaking stopped, the three hurried quickly down to the basement.

As the dust cleared from down there, they heard voices. The first one coughed and said, "Nii-san, why is it so dusty?"

The second, apparently the first's older brother, replied, "Dunno. I suppose whoever owns this house must not have cleaned here in a long time. I wonder where we are."

Roy, Riza and Winry's eyes widened as they saw the shapes of two boys on the floor, but Roy's features softened as he realized who it was. "Well, I'll be," he muttered.

Edward looked up from where he knelt on the floor, recognizing the voice right away. Seeing Roy, he smiled. "Well, what do you know? We're in the Colonel's basement, Al."

Roy would have taken the time to correct Edward by stating that he was now retired, but Winry ran down the stairs into the basement and, without a word, tightly hugged Ed and Al, sobbing. "I thought I'd never see you two again. How did you get back?"

Riza tilted her head. "How _did_ you two get back? From what I've heard, alchemy isn't possible where you were, am I right?"

Edward looked toward Alphonse, saying, "It was Alphonse who figured it out. Long story short, we were looking at things the wrong way."

"Speaking of short," Roy murmured, but he didn't get too far before Ed glared at him, stating, "If I were you, I'd watch it. I just got back from the Gate, so I'm tired right now, but one slight remark about my height, and you'd better watch it."

"Glad to have you back, Ed, Al," Winry said, tears of joy falling from her eyes.

"Glad to be back," Edward and Alphonse said simultaneously as they hugged her back.

* * *

_Author's Note: I need to stop writing these one-shots. They distract me too much from my more important stories. But yeah, the movie only showed that Ed couldn't use his clapping alchemy, as I put it, but when he put his hands on a transmutation circle about a third of the way through, it activated, leading me to believe that it's only the clapping alchemy that doesn't work. Just a mini theory of mine…_

_A quick note on Japanese usage, "Nii-san" means "older brother". It's what Alphonse uses to refer to Edward in the original version. In the English version, he is referred to as "Brother", but I think that "Nii-san" sounds better, so that's what I use._


End file.
